Post/Author/DateTime	Post
technodemon 12-22-06, 05:06 PM	I am about to design a world where it is a typical D&D but with a twist. I want to add the themes of the wild west like societies, culture and profession to a D&D fantasy world, examples would be half-orc cowboys or eleven spirit warriors (these might change). I do not want too cliche with mixing of themes. Think how Eberron is like D&D is for pulp where my world is like for the Wild West. Any idea or suggestions.
DarkSummoner 12-22-06, 05:12 PM	Well I suggest you read up on the WW after that start on stuff like climate and locations.
wrecan 12-22-06, 09:29 PM	Do you want there to be gunpowder? Or will the six-guns be replaced by magic (like quick-draw wands)? Things that make it a Western... Indians. This could be accomplished by making other races (elves, orcs, dwarves, etc.) the natives into which the dominant race (usually humans) has entered. Guns. As stated before, use either guns or wands. Lawlessness. The West is a frontier, so the dominant race(s) should have a civilized aarea from which the frontiersmen enter the Wild West. Railroads. This is how the dominant civilization denotes the area it controls. Drop metallic armor. Either the gun/wands work on ranged touch attacks, or create a magical cloth that is cheaper and more protective than metallic armor.
technodemon 12-22-06, 09:59 PM	ohh no guns for this world. Its more like putting the Old West into D&D not D&D into the Old West, i think :D. The D&D world will still have swords, dragons, magic, undead, castles and the like but it will have a feeling of the old west with outlaws, lawmen or bounty hunters, frontier-men and and things take make the old west.
hiryuu 12-22-06, 10:12 PM	I did this once: put a big rain shadow desert in the center of a continent, put some settlers at one end, and then an explorer found a draconic graveyard (you need fossilized and ground dragon bones to make magic items in the setting, which is a rare thing), and thus started the age of the frontier. Put some lizardfolk, orcs, and tribal bloodthirsty desert-dwelling elves in the way, and it's fun adventure.
TarlSS 12-22-06, 11:11 PM	The Old West does not have castles. Castles mean that the place has an established power, a base of law. Castles mean that the "establishment' has been there already. The closest thing you could have is a frontier fort. Castles are also decidedly European medieval in nature, extremely so. If American frontiersmanship is what you want, then, no, Castles don't work.
technodemon 12-23-06, 04:35 AM	The other thing i need to figure is what would be a cool D&D creature/monster to domesticated as a riding beast besides dragons and dinosaurs.
wrecan 12-23-06, 09:52 AM	I suppose horse is too pedestrian? How about ankhegs? Yee ha!
Return of the Flumph 12-24-06, 03:17 PM	I strongly suggest you read the first few books of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. The story is set in a primitive, supernatural frontier desert. Just replace Roland's handguns with a repeating crossbow, and you've got what you're looking for.
Doomed_Penguin 12-24-06, 04:36 PM	I strongly suggest you read the first few books of The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. The story is set in a primitive, supernatural frontier desert. Just replace Roland's handguns with a repeating crossbow, and you've got what you're looking for. I very VERY strongly agree with that. As for mounts, some of the smaller sized dinosaurs would be very cool, and could fit in with the desert setting. If you have Arms and Equipment Guide, I suggest some of the Vermin mounts, like fireflies and wasps and such. Odd, yet cool and intimidating.
GenghisUber 12-27-06, 10:05 AM	Check out the Red Steel setting for Mystara. This is pretty close to what you're describing.
technodemon 01-26-07, 08:20 AM	Ok guys Im back after research and planning and I came up with something odd, but interesting. I have been thinking about what to do with the railroads and the locomotives and did not want to repeat others and the weird thing I thought of was what if I made/use the locomotives as constructs; instead steam, elementals or magical stones? I'm still working on the idea but its different and unique. The Train system I want to have is to use a different track system besides flying, standard tracks, crystals or something that have been done a lot. The idea is having goblins be the Native Indians and each goblinoid will be settled in certain environments and the main culture will worship dragons using dragon-crafted items blessed by the dragons. You know how Native Indians uses remains of animals, mostly buffalo, for clothes, homes, tools and food? I doing the same thing but using dragons and draconic beasts instead.
taradusis 01-26-07, 09:15 PM	Put some thought into the homebase of the heros?Will it be like Tombstone Arizona or like San Fransisco?You could have the Yuan-ti be like the chinese tong and control opium and white slavery.How about a train pulled by a large undead like a zombie buffalo or zombie mastodon.If you reduced the size of the centaurs and made them like the old pony centaurs they could be indians?A demon or devil can "possess" and animate objects with a CR equal or less than their own so a powerful demon could animate a locomotive.
taradusis 01-28-07, 10:17 AM	Consider a large ranger organization like the texas rangers,do the rangers group themselves into knightly orders based on their chosen enemies?Questions to answer?Is it possible for a non-ranger to join?Is it possible to belong to more than one order?Where are the ranger acadamies located or do the Rangers use a Master/Apprentice system like the sith and jedi knights do?RANDOM THOUGHTS.
Dark_Coyote 01-28-07, 01:09 PM	I played with the wild west flavor for awhile in my campaign. But unfortunately, my players didn't like the idea of bounty hunters, indians and deputies. So, I scrapped the idea. I can show you what I had before I cancelled it though. Basically, the campaign began with an ancient race of Egyptian-like people settling on a desert plane called Harenia. They grew into a highly sophisticated society and lived peacefully until civil war broke out. When the last of them died out, a planar traveler from the Prime Material Plane came across the then empty Harenian plane and decided to resettle it. Many races and nations migrated to the desert wasteland in search of religious freedom and oppurtunity. However, for some unkown reason, planar gates malfunctioned and the inhabitants of Harenia were stranded. For years the population struggled to survive. After much hardwork over the decades however, Harenia began to prosper again. Inhabitiants began uncovering poweful technological artifacts leading to the creation of firearms, trains dirgibles, etc. Adventurers surfaced and began searching out these ancient tools for good money. What we then have is a kind of steampunk culture full of gunslinger, sheriffs, marshals or anything else you need. Harenia is also seperated into eight prominent regions, some more dangerous than others. Each provides a unique environment, a new danger and an unforgetful adventure. -Decuro Reaches : A region full of ever-shifting sands and speeding dunes, suffocating those who are unlucky enough not to outrace them. The whole area is occupied by changing sands that move and twist continously. The only beings that dwell permanently in this dangerous region are the thri-kreen, a race of bug people, who have made homes and burrows deep within the sands. -The Maelstrom: Possibly the most chaotic place in all of Harenia, the Maelstrom is a region constantly bombarded with a hordes of supernatural storms and cyclones that boggle comprehension. Stories of man eating wind and horrible, disembodied voices prevent even the most courageous of heroes from entering its clutches. However, these same stories also tell of a large treasury of forgotten magic that lies within the center, near the eye of the storm. -Vitreus Plain: A beautiful, but deadly plain of glass that resulted from eons of heated sand, the Vitreus Plain's smooth exterior hides the jagged field of glass below that can rend adventurers to shreds. While, the plain is a sparkling and enticing sight to the casual viewer, the glassy plains are much like the glaciers in the real world. Though appealing to eye, there is always the chance of slipping to one's doom or falling though glassy shafts, never to be heard from again. -The Great Sea of Suchos: Once a great, artificial body of water that was fed by the very bowels of the Elemental Plane of Water, the Sea of Suchos is now a dry sea bed full of chasms, sinkholes, quicksand and worst yet, were-crocodiles. With its jagged ledges, steep canyons and dagerous terrain the Sea of Suchos is indeed a truly perilous place. However, the most trecherous aspect of the sea is what was left behind by its once great waters. Thin red streams contain potent, liquid salt the immediantly sucks the moisture out of all those who come in contact with it, and now reside within the deepest crevices of the Suchos Sea. -Silex Bluffs: Beyond the reaches of the Sea of Suchos, lie the cliff cities of the Bhuka, a friendly goblinoid race of primitive tribe folk. Within the Silex Blunts lie five major Bhuka cities and places of major trade. It is here where all races can sell and buy freely and without judgement, the only place to do so outside the human lands. -The Teeth of Mulciber: A general name for all the various mountain ranges that dot the face of Harenia, the Teeth of Mulciber contain highly volcanic regions immersed in ashy sheets and flaiming rain. Ironically the Teeth are one of the more important regions of Harenia, and though often dangerous, provide ample mining potential, deep water veins and archelogical value. Many mining facilities have been left behind by a once advance race of beings known as Urram, and the denizens of Harenia have taught themselves how to actvate these ancient machines. The dwarves have also become quite comfortable in the depths of Mulciber. Not only do ther new homes protect them from the firestorms of the region, but the volcanic activity provides an excellent forge for Dwarven weapons. The dwarves have also made an acceptable amount of wealth from the minerals and water they mine. -The Middle Lands of Uedius: The largest, most diverse, civilized region in all of Harenia, the realm of Uedius houses many semi-advanced cities that where built on the ruins of an ancient empire of an advanced people. As a result both magic and technology have been blended and new technology has become available to the mainstream of Harenian civilization. Uedius is the forerunner of this mechanical revolution and houses a variety of sandships, walking sand fortresses, airships and guns. Still, the citizens of Uedius have not let go of their heritage and the blade-swinging hero is still prefered next to the present-day gunslinger. -The Glasswoven Reaches: As the name implies, the Glasswoven Reaches house a variety of structures made from mirrors, lenses and other forms of glass. Home to the elves of Harenia, the Glasswoven Reaches are second only to Uedius when it comes to advancement in technology. Though these once proud people have lost ther lush, green forests, they have not lost their culture. The cities of glass and metal are even more elegant than that of the architecture of normal elves. While not only breath taking, these structures fuction as sun reflecters and provides a relatively cool environment inside its hallowed halls. The region as a whole has more oasises and townships that any other region, including Uedius. Hopefully you have more luck with the campaign than I did technodemon. Just putting in my two cents though. Feel free to take or ignore anything you want. Hopefully this helps you a little.
MagicMouth 01-28-07, 01:54 PM	:clap: Very cool, Dark Coyote. Hopefully I´ll be able to post a few ideas of my own eventually.
Rickiel 01-28-07, 02:12 PM	Wish I could've played in that Western D&D game of yours Dark Coyote :( It sounded like fun!
Bluntpencil2001 01-28-07, 05:25 PM	I would avoid having a specific non-human race represent the Native Americans. I find it pretty sad that an ethnic minority gets relegated to being non-human. You should get elves, dwarves, humans etc as both natives and as frontiersmen in my opinion, unless of course you try to avoid the Native American imagery and just use the general feel that they may have, then I suppose separation by ravce might work.
MagicMouth 01-31-07, 11:05 AM	Today I suddenly came to think of the giant mechanical spider in Wild Wild West. Then I thought: What D&D creature has the greatest connection with spiders. Drow. :D Perhaps drow society also experienced an industrial revolution, but the ruling cleric class claimed that machinery was a blasphemy against Lolth, and only her magic could be allowed. After brutal fighting, many drow industrialists fled to the unexplored frontiers of the surface world to evade death, bringing their ideas and technologies with them. Now, many years later, they live in cities built on giant mechanical spiders who slowly move across the wastelands. They are far less hostile than the underground drow, but they remain evil and manipulative, so those brave and/or foolish enough to seek them out to trade with should be wary.
Millennium 01-31-07, 12:15 PM	I would avoid having a specific non-human race represent the Native Americans. I find it pretty sad that an ethnic minority gets relegated to being non-human. The thing is, this is really what the settlers believed, and those beliefs had an important role to play in the shaping of the Wild West. We can look back on those beliefs today and shake our heads at how sadly mistaken they were, but it does no good to deny that they existed or that they were important. But this is fantasy. Why play such things down, when you can play them up? Humans are the settlers among the natives, and while many may carry beliefs about being somehow superior, this part of their beliefs is just as mistaken as it was for the real-world settlers. The natives have their own societies and their own nations. The nomadic, warrior Diné (called Navajo by outsiders) find a parallel in half-orcs, while the Pueblo in their fortified mountain homes become the dwarves. Elves, with their faraway forest homes and numerous varieties are now the Iroquois Nations, rarely seen this far west. I admit to being somewhat unsure where gnomes and halflings might fit into this, but there are almost certainly parallels that exist for them as well. Seriously. Do your research carefully and in the spirit of utmost respect, and you could have quite an interesting campaign world on your hands.
Wayett 01-31-07, 12:49 PM	For what everyone rides, one word: bullette. Nothing like a sand shark to ride around on. Or for trains, get the trains to be epic centipedes with carts on their backs. That would make for a fun chase seen. Sand sharks with riders in sand resistant armour rise up and chase after a really really really big centipede with wands o magic missle and repeater crossbows going off. Through in MagicMouth's drow, taradusis Yuan-ti, the goblin indians, and some cestial cowboys hearding Ankhegs and you got a campaign setting. Wait, I may use this campagin setting...
Bluntpencil2001 01-31-07, 02:04 PM	The thing is, this is really what the settlers believed, and those beliefs had an important role to play in the shaping of the Wild West. We can look back on those beliefs today and shake our heads at how sadly mistaken they were, but it does no good to deny that they existed or that they were important. But this is fantasy. Why play such things down, when you can play them up? Humans are the settlers among the natives, and while many may carry beliefs about being somehow superior, this part of their beliefs is just as mistaken as it was for the real-world settlers. The natives have their own societies and their own nations. The nomadic, warrior Diné (called Navajo by outsiders) find a parallel in half-orcs, while the Pueblo in their fortified mountain homes become the dwarves. Elves, with their faraway forest homes and numerous varieties are now the Iroquois Nations, rarely seen this far west. I admit to being somewhat unsure where gnomes and halflings might fit into this, but there are almost certainly parallels that exist for them as well. Seriously. Do your research carefully and in the spirit of utmost respect, and you could have quite an interesting campaign world on your hands. You make some very good points. However, I still don't see why the likes of the Iroquois can't be represented by humans for instance, the next tribe Dwarves, the next goblins. The settlers would likewise me a mish-mash of races, much like the mish-mash of nationalities that took the Americas. The Dwarf settlers, for instance, would have to look very different from the native Dwarves, but they'd still be Dwarves. Same goes for humans, goblins etc.
rudie 01-31-07, 03:43 PM	I ran a western game, I made it wild west-ish (the old tv show and movie) so a lot of fancy over the top equipment. I gave natives special bonuses to magic and things like that.
taradusis 02-04-07, 08:49 PM	You could use dire animals,which would be similar to the Ice Age mammals found in the old west.A dire boar would make a good riding beast?Will you be using some version of native american gods?
longshot7 02-05-07, 07:17 PM	You may want to check out "Spellslinger" from Fantasy Flight Games. While the core game is a very basic d20 variant, it has some interesting ideas such as feat-based spellcasting.
taradusis 02-10-07, 07:03 PM	Perhaps you could incorporate steamboats and have a few adventures on a major river?This would give your non-combat types a chance to shine?RANDOM THOUGHTS
JosephKell 02-10-07, 08:02 PM	So... Towns in the middle of no where... Heroes coming in to drive out the scum? Isn't D&D 3rd Ed already sort of like that?
LostMage 02-10-07, 09:22 PM	Does a western setting need to be in the desert? Why not take the themes of a frontier, native civillizations, and bandits and put them in any location that makes you happy (maybe that's a desert). In a feudal system, castles would work just fine: a frontier town could be a castle in the unexplored setting of your choice. Castles really were just fortified towns, after all. As for riding animals, I'm rather partial to the hippogriff, and as for trains, I'd just lift the lightning rail right from Eberron.
Nor'Morgwae 02-11-07, 04:41 AM	Wow, I am actually working on a game like this right now. I'm still waiting on some player feedback for a few aspects but I might as well throw my ideas out there. First, I decided I am going to have a conglomeration of demi-humans fill the role that indians have in the traditional western. Centaurs, Minotaurs, Satys and the like. All part man part animal (from human perspective). Not because they are primitive (they aren't) but rather because it is very easy to think that they are. The differences are obvious. A big part of fantasy is adressing real life issues with the kind of exageration that only fantasy can deliver, so I intend to play that to the hilt. The image of the gunslinger is so central to the genre that I have to include guns. I'm probably going to use the defense bonus from AU since you just can't be Clint Eastwood in platemail. One thing I am excited about it constructs in the setting. I'm really looking forward to using Effigies from Complete Arcane for things like horses or oxen. I'll need to keep them rare, because of the flavor I think my players are expecting, but that doesn't mean I can't have one or two running around or maybe a couple massive constructs helping out at the mining camp. I still don't have anything pinned down for environment. I would like to try a somewhat different environ than the usual southwestern desert, like arctic or the slightly less common wooded mountains, but that will depend on what my players think.
taradusis 03-02-07, 01:17 PM	Its to bad all the wild west types can't have their own sub-forum or sticky thread,you could actually pool your resources.:)